73% of IT Professionals Lack Cloud Security Procedures

Only 27% of IT professionals have procedures for approving cloud
applications that use sensitive or confidential information,
according to a survey conducted by Symantec Corp and the
Ponemon Institute.

Furthermore, only 20% of the organisations surveyed reported
that their information security teams are regularly involved in
evaluating cloud computing vendors, and approximately a quarter
said they never participated in this process at all. However, 69%
of those surveyed stated they want their information security or
corporate IT teams to lead the decision making process, when it
comes to cloud computing.

“Cloud computing holds a great deal of promise as a tool for
providing many essential business services, but our study reveals a
disturbing lack of concern for the security of sensitive corporate
and personal information as companies rush to join in on the
trend,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, the chairman and founder of Ponemon
Institute. “In order to properly address information security
concerns we encourage organizations to immediately incorporate
policies and processes for determining vendor qualifications.”